Oxfam warns of worsening hunger crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray region

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – The international aid group Oxfam warned Thursday of an aggravating hunger crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

“After two years of conflict, erratic rainfall during the planting season is threatening to plunge the Tigray region of Ethiopia into a deeper humanitarian catastrophe,” the group said in a statement.

Commenting on the worsening situation in the region, the group’s Ethiopia country director Gezahegn Kebede said “this is only the tip of the iceberg. Millions more people are having to resort to unimaginable ways to stave off hunger and find their next meal. It is morally and politically bankrupt to watch people starve.”

“Even though aid has resumed, it’s only a drop in the desert, given the immensity of the needs. Without an urgent and major inflow of aid and increased humanitarian efforts by donors, the lives of many more people are at risk,” he added.

In January, Ethiopia’s Disaster Risk Management Commission warned that nearly 4 million people who mostly live in the drought-stricken states require urgent food assistance.

The worst affected regions by the ongoing drought include Afar, Amhara, Tigray and Oromia, and southern and southwestern parts of the country.

The warning came as the war-stricken region of Tigray is witnessing one of the worst humanitarian crises in decades.